Gas turbine engine with compressor and turbine inside a hollow shaft

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a turbine engine, wherein compressor rotor blades and turbine rotor blades set around the interior circular surface of a hollow revolving shaft while compressor stator blades and turbine stator blades are set around the exterior circular surface of an inner engine case inside the hollow revolving shaft. By using the present invention, the configuration of the turbine engine can be compact, and the volume can be substantially reduced. Besides, the intnesity of the rotor blades can be increased, and efficiency of the compressor, the burner, the turbine, and the whole engine can be increased.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a turbine engine, especially toa gas turbine engine having small volume and high efficiency.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Since a turbine engine was invented, compressor rotor blades andturbine rotor blades have been set around the exterior circular surfaceof a revolving shaft while compressor stator blades and turbine statorblades are set around the interior circular surface of a engine case.Disadvantages resulted from the above design are:

[0005] (1) Heat loss and the clearance between the blades and the enginecase make heat efficiency of the system lower;

[0006] (2) Additional space for the burner is required;

[0007] (3) The revolving shaft is small in diameter and low in stiff;

[0008] (4) Blades are easy to be damaged;

[0009] (5) The demand of compact design can't be achieved; and

[0010] (6) Noise can't be reduced efficiently.

[0011] The inventor of the present invention ruminated over thedisadvantages resulted from the habitually used turbine engines, andearnestly deliberated the way of improvement and innovation. Afterstudying hard for a long period, the inventor eventually succeeded ininventing the present invention, a gas turbine engine having highefficiency and making a breakthrough among traditional configurations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The first purpose of the present invention is to provide a gasturbine engine, which makes a breakthrough among the configuration oftraditional turbine engines such that the volume is reducedsubstantially in and engine efficiency is increased substantially.

[0013] The second purpose of the present invention is to provide a gasturbine engine, wherein a burner is set inside the revolving shaftdirectly, and can be designed as a can-shape combustion chamber toreduce usage room. Besides, the burner is included inside the revolvingshaft such that the problem of heat loss can be improved with effect.

[0014] The third purpose of present invention is to provide a gasturbine engine, wherein blades are set around the interior surface ofthe revolving shaft to increase the diameter of the revolving shaft. Therevolving shaft is not easy to deform, and can be operated with highstability of the system under the condition that the critical rotationspeed is risen for one order.

[0015] The gas turbine engine which can achieve the purposes describedabove is mainly composed of compressor rotor blades and several turbinerotor blades set around interior circular surface of the revolvingshaft, and compressor stator blades and several turbine stator bladesset on the inner engine case.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The drawings disclose an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention which serves to exemplify the various advantages and objectshereof, and are as follows:

[0017]FIG. 1 is the axial sectional diagram of the present invention, agas turbine engine, under intake process; and

[0018]FIG. 2 is like FIG. 1, and is the axial sectional diagram of thepresent invention, a gas turbine engine, under combustion and exhaustprocess.

Diagram Remarks

[0019]10 Outer engine case

[0020]11 Intake end

[0021]12 Exhaust end

[0022]13 Central channel

[0023]14 Hollow shaft

[0024]15 Inner engine case

[0025]16 Intake nose

[0026]17 Intake way

[0027]18 Burner

[0028]19 Fuel piping

[0029]20 Fuel pressure blade

[0030]21 Sprayer

[0031]22 Electromagnetic valve

[0032]23 Cover

[0033]24 Compressor rotor blade

[0034]25 Compressor stator blade

[0035]26 Turbine rotor blade

[0036]27 Turbine stator blade

[0037]28 Heat Exchanger

[0038]29 First hole

[0039]30 Second hole

[0040]31 Exhaust way

[0041]32 Exhaust hole

[0042]33 Exhaust cover

[0043]34 Electric generator

[0044]35 Air bearing

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0045] Referring to every drawing, the gas turbine engine provided fromthe present invention mainly comprises an outer engine case 10 having acenter channel 13 wherein both ends are respectively an intake end 11and an exhaust end 12, and an exhaust cover 33 having several exhaustholes 32 covered to the exhaust end 12. Besides, a hollow revolvingshaft 14 is suspended and supported at the interior circular surface ofthe outer engine case 10, and a cover 23 is set at the opening of therear end of the revolving shaft 14 regarding to the intake direction toenclose the opening. An inner engine case 15 is suspended and supportedinside the hollow shaft 14, and an intake nose 16 protruding from thehallow shaft 14 is set at the front end of the inner engine case 15regarding to the intake direction. An intake way 17 connecting to theintake end 11 is formed between the intake nose 16 and the outer enginecase 10. A burner 18 having a can-shaped combustion chamber is formed atthe latter portion of the inner engine case 15. A fuel supply device setin the inner engine case 15 comprises a fuel piping 19, a fuel pressureblade 20, a fuel sprayer 21 and an electromagnetic valve 22. Theelectromagnetic valve 22 drives the fuel pressure blade 20 and the fuelsprayer 21 to make fuel pressured, atomized and sprayed into the burner18 for combustion. A compressor connecting to the intake way 17 iscomposed of a several compressor rotor blades 24 and several compressorstator blades 25, wherein the front are set around the interior circularsurface of the revolving shaft 14 while the later are set around theexterior circular surface of the inner engine case 15. A turbine iscomposed of several turbine rotor blades 26 and several turbine statorblades 27, wherein the front are set around the interior circularsurface of the revolving shaft 14 while the later are set around theexterior circular surface of the outer engine case 15. The turbine isset at the rear side of the compressor regarding to the intakedirection. A heat exchanger 28 is set between the compressor and theturbine. The heat exchanger 28 can connect to the can-shaped combustionchamber of the burner 18 through first holes 29 of the inner engine case15, and also can connect to the exhaust way 30 formed between the hollowrevolving shaft 14 and the outer engine case 10 through the second holes30 set on the hollow revolving shaft 14. An electric generator 34 is setat the interior circular surface of the outer engine case 10 and set atthe cold portion of the exterior circular surface of the hollowrevolving shaft 14.

[0046] The hollow revolving shaft 14 can be suspended and supported atthe interior circular surface of the outer engine case 10 by several airbearings 35. The air bearings 35 not only have functions of holdingthrust and loading but also have no cumbersome lubrication problems, andcorrespond to environmental protection.

[0047] The thermal cycle and detailed flowing path of the fluid of thepresent invention, a gas turbine engine, are shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

[0048] The arrows shown in FIG. 1 illustrate the intake process. Airenters the compressor through the intake way 17, and then the airbecomes high-pressure air due to work of the compressor rotor blades 24and expansion effect of the compressor stator blades 25. Thehigh-pressure air then flows into the heat exchanger 28. Afterincreasing temperature, the high-pressure air enters the can-shapedburner 18 through the first holes 29. At this moment, part of air entersmain combustion zone of the burner 18 to be mixed with the atomized fuelfrom the fuel sprayer 21 and be burned to produce high-temperature andhigh-pressure gas. Part of air enters the dilution zone for reducing thetemperature of gas to ensure that parts of the hot portion keep onworking under the limitation of the material.

[0049] The arrows shown in FIG. 2 illustrate thermal cycle and exhaustpart. The gas having high temperature and high pressure resulted fromcombustion process of the burner 18 is sealed by the cover 23 of thehollow revolving shaft 14, and is directed into the turbine. The turbinestator blades 27 are used to increase the speed of gas combustion andguide the flow angle of gas for entering the turbine blades 26. Whenpassing through the turbine rotor blades 26, the gas release energy anddrive the hollow revolving shaft 14 which produce work for keepingrotation of the compressor rotor blades 24 and cutting the magnetic lineof force of the electric generator 34 to produce electric energy output.Then, the gas enters the heat exchanger 28, and transfers redundant heatto the air passing through the compressor by thermal conduction. Lastly,the gas passes through the second holes 30, exhaust way 31, and exhaustcover 33 to be drained away to atmosphere. The thermal cycle of thepresent invention is finished.

[0050] In the engine configuration of the present invention, compressorrotor blades and turbine rotor blades are set around the interiorcircular surface of the revolving shaft, and compressor stator bladesand turbine stator blades are set inside the shaft. The design has beena great innovation and a breakthrough in the technology field since aturbine engine was invented and applied. The benefits from the designare:

[0051] 1) A burner can be set inside the revolving shaft, and atraditional can-shaped combustion chamber can be designed to reduceusage room. Besides, the burner is enclosed entirely in the revolvingshaft to avoid heat loss effectively.

[0052] 2) Because the blades are set around the interior surface of therevolving shaft, the diameter of the revolving shaft become larger. Inthis way, the revolving shaft is not easy to deform, and the criticalrotation speed can be advanced for one order. The revolving shaft can beoperated under critical rotation speed with one more order whilestability of the system is kept.

[0053] 3) Clearance between the rotor blades and the stationary parts isnear the center of the axes, so the area of the clearance issubstantially reduced such that traditional limitation of design can beovercome and the efficiency of the compressor and the turbine can beincreased.

[0054] 4) The rotor blades are enclosed inside the revolving shaft, sothe intensity of stress is increased. The turbine rotor blades can bemade of ceramic material, and the efficiency of the system can beincreased substantially.

[0055] 5) The bearing is located at the exterior surface of therevolving shaft, which belongs to the low-temperature zone, to increasethe life of the bearing. Besides, air bearings can be used to get thebenefits of economics and environmental protection.

[0056] 6) An electric generator can be set at the cold portion at theexterior surface of the revolving shaft to achieve a compact design.

[0057] 7) Comparing with other engines having the same power, the totalvolume of the engine of the present invention can be substantiallyreduced.

[0058] Many changes and modifications in the above described embodimentof the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing fromthe scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science andthe useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to belimited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. a turbine engine rotor configuration, whichcomprises: a compressor composed of a compressor rotor and a stator,wherein a plurality of compressor rotor blades are set and distributedaround an interior surface of a hollow revolving shaft (a revolvingpart) to be driven to rotate by said revolving shaft while a pluralityof compressor stator blades are set and distributed around an exteriorcircular surface of an inner engine case (a stationary part) inside saidrevolving shaft; a turbine composed of a turbine rotor and a stator,wherein a plurality of turbine rotor blades are set and distributedaround said interior circular surface of said hollow revolving shaft(said revolving part) to be driven to rotate by said revolving shaftwhile a plurality of turbine stator blades are set or distributed aroundsaid exterior circular surface of said inner engine case (saidstationary part) inside said revolving shaft; a can-shaped burner, whichis set inside said inner engine case (said stationary part) inside saidhollow shaft.
 2. a gas turbine engine, which comprises: an outer enginecase having a central channel, wherein an first end is an intake endwhile an second end is an exhaust end; said hollow revolving shaft whichis suspended and supported at said interior circular surface of saidouter engine case; said inner engine case which is suspended andsupported inside said hollow revolving shaft, an intake nose protrudingfrom said hollow revolving shaft being set at a front end of said innerengine case regarding to an intake direction, an intake channel beingformed between said intake nose and said outer engine case to direct airinto said turbine engine, a latter half portion of said inner enginecase serving as said can-shaped burner; said compressor, which isconnected to said intake channel to compress outside air ashigh-pressure air and is composed of a plurality of said compressorrotor blades and a plurality of said compressor stator blades, saidcompressor rotor blades being set around said interior circular surfaceof said revolving shaft to be driven to rotate by said revolving shaftwhile said compressor stator blades being set on said inner engine case;a fuel supply device fastened inside said inner engine case, which isused to spray fuel to said burner to be mixed with said high-pressureair for combustion for producing a gas with high temperature andpressure; and said turbine composed of a plurality of said turbine rotorblades and a plurality of turbine stator blades, wherein said turbinerotor blades are set around said interior circular surface of saidrevolving shaft to be driven to rotate by said revolving shaft whilesaid turbine stator blades are set on said inner engine case.
 3. a gasturbine engine as recited in claim 2, wherein an electric generator isset on said interior surface of said outer engine case and set on anexterior circular surface of said hollow revolving shaft, and can bedriven by said hollow revolving shaft to produce electric power foroutput.
 4. a gas turbine engine as recited in claim 2, wherein saidhollow shaft is suspended at said interior circular surface of saidouter engine case by a plurality of air bearings locating at an exteriorcircular surface of said revolving shaft.
 5. a gas turbine engine asrecited in claim 2, wherein an exhaust cover having a plurality ofexhaust holes is covered to an exhaust end of said outer engine case. 6.a gas turbine engine as recited in claim 2, wherein a heat exchanger isset between said compressor and said turbine, and is used to heathigh-pressure air passing through said compressor and direct said heatedhigh-pressure air to enter said burner for combustion, and is also usedto absorb redundant heat of gas passing through said turbine and directsaid gas to exhaust.
 7. a gas turbine engine as recited in claim 2,wherein said fuel supply device comprises a fuel piping, a fuel pressureblade, a sprayer and an electromagnetic valve, said electromagneticvalve simultaneously driving said fuel pressure blade and said sprayerto make fuel pressured, atomized, and sprayed into said burner forcombustion.